From: TSS()Subject: JAPAN WILL NOT RESUME U.S. BEEF IMPORTSDate: July 13, 2005 at 7:16 pm PST

Japan will not resume U.S. beef importsJul. 13, 2005 at 8:17PM

Japan will not ease its ban on beef imports from the United States, farm minister Yoshinobu Shimamura announced Wednesday. Kyodo reports Shimamura met with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johann to discuss the ban, which Japan enacted after mad cow disease was discovered in U.S. cattle in 2003. The two were at a 2-day World Trade Organization meeting in Dalian, China. Shimamura said a Food Safety Commission's approval is necessary before beef imports can resume. He refused to set a timetable. Japan has placed a similar ban on Canadian beef since mad cow cases were found in Canadian cattle, also in 2003.